The end of daylight-saving time meant an extra hour of sleep over the weekend and a brighter Monday morning. Many welcomed the extra rest this morning, even those who might not fully understand the benefit of a full night’s sleep.

(ABOVE: 18 Scary Ways Sleep Deprivation Affects Your Body and Mind)

One of those benefits could be fighting childhood obesity: Kids who sleep more tend to eat less, according to a study from Temple University published in the journal Pediatrics.

The study included 37 children ages 8 to 11. Researchers monitored the children’s sleep patterns for three weeks: One week of normal sleep, one week of less sleep and one week of extra sleep.

Using daily caloric measurements, the results showed that when children slept more, they ate less. An average of 134 fewer calories a day were consumed after extra sleep when compared to the week of decreased sleep.

"Findings from this study suggest that enhancing school-age children's sleep at night could have important implications for prevention and treatment of obesity," said Chantelle Hart, associate professor of public health at Temple's Center for Obesity Research and Education (CORE), in a press release. "The potential role of sleep should be further explored."

Hart’s study is the first to look at the effect manipulating a child’s sleep schedule has on appetite. Previous research conducted on adults has found similar results.

Not only can a lack of sleep cause adults to eat more, and eat poorly, but also it disrupts the body’s processing of blood sugar. Both can contribute to weight gain and the development of chronic diseases, such as heart disease and tye 2 diabetes.

For many adults, and children, more sleep can’t hurt.

"Given all of its documented benefits, in many ways, you can't lose in promoting a good night's sleep,” said Hart.